How often should you feed a dog? A guide with portions

The question of how many meals to give comes back with almost every change in a dog’s life. You bring home a puppy and don’t know whether to feed it the same way as an adult dog. Your dog reaches its senior years and you wonder whether to change anything in its feeding rhythm. The answer is fairly simple at heart, although it depends on your dog’s age, and the number of meals is only half the story.

Dog’s age	Meals per day
Puppy	3 to 4
Adult dog	2
Senior	2, split into smaller ones if needed

Adult dog: two meals a day

For most adult dogs, splitting the daily portion into two meals works best, for example morning and evening. That way your dog doesn’t go hungry for long, and its stomach doesn’t have to cope with one large portion all at once.

For large breeds this matters even more. Large, deep-chested breeds such as the Great Dane or the German Shepherd are more prone to gastric dilatation and volvulus (bloat). Two smaller meals instead of one big one is one simple way to reduce that risk. It is also worth letting your dog rest after eating rather than heading straight out for a brisk walk.

Puppy: three to four meals

A puppy’s small stomach simply can’t hold, in one or two meals, as much food as its growing body needs. That is why puppies eat more often but in smaller portions, usually three to four times a day.

As the puppy grows, the number of meals is gradually reduced: the youngest puppies usually eat four times a day, and after a few months three. Most dogs move to two meals a day between six and twelve months of age. Small breeds get there sooner, large and giant breeds later, because they keep growing for longer. We write more about the first year in our guide on what to feed a puppy.

Senior: usually two meals, sometimes more smaller ones

Older dogs usually do well on two meals a day, just as in adulthood. However, if your senior is eating less willingly, has a slower metabolism or has other conditions that affect digestion, it is worth thinking about splitting the same portion into more, smaller meals across the day. We write more about feeding older dogs in our guide to feeding a senior dog.

How to work out the daily portion

The number of meals is one thing, but the total daily portion is what really matters. It depends on the calorie content of the particular food and on your dog’s energy needs, which come from its weight, age and activity level. A dog that runs several kilometres every day needs clearly more energy than a dog that spends most of the day on the sofa, even if both weigh the same.

If your dog is overweight, the portion is worked out for its target weight, not its current one. We break this down step by step in our guide on how to help your dog lose weight safely.

Regular times and access to water

Try to feed your dog at fairly regular times every day. A predictable rhythm helps digestion and makes it easier to keep an eye on appetite, so you will notice sooner when something starts to change. Whatever the feeding times, your dog should have access to fresh water all day.

How Veli works out the daily portion

At Veli, we work out the daily portion from your dog’s weight, age and lifestyle, in line with the FEDIAF guidelines. FEDIAF is the European federation of pet food manufacturers.

That means you don’t have to calculate anything by hand. Just give us a few details about your dog when you build your bundle, and we will do the rest for you. Then all that is left is to split the portion into meals, as described above.